Jud 1:3 Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.

      BELOVED—The idea of the word is “esteemed, dear, favorite…it is used often as a dignified epithet” (Thayer 4,5).  The word is a transitional phrase within the book of Jude and is a natural way for the book to be divided:

1. Salutation (1,2)
2. Purpose of writing and description of Apostates (3-16)
3. Apostates Predicted by earlier apostles (17-29)
4. Saintly living among apostates and the assurance of salvation (20-25)

WHILE I WAS MAKING EVERY EFFORT—“This phrase, pasa? sp??d?? p????µe???, is a Grecism for being exceedingly intent upon a subject; taking it up seriously with determination to bring it to good effect” (Clarke e-sword).  The meaning seems to be Jude was tormented in his mind over writing about the common salvation but after weighing the need of the people he realized the necessity to deal with the false teachers.

The word pas (every, all) is a key word, and therefore a thread, used throughout the book of Jude.  The word means “whole, all, or each”  (Reicke 887).  The word in this epistle is being used to refer to total completeness.  Jude uses pas to encourage Christians that they know completely how God deals with the godly and ungodly (5).  It is used to show the completeness of God’s judgment upon ungodly people (15).  Finally, Jude concludes his epistle saying God was around “before all time” (25). 

TO WRITE YOU ABOUT OUR COMMON SALVATION—The original thought in mind for this epistle was Jude’s desire to deal with the common salvation.  The word for common (koinos) means, “belonging to several…it stands in contrast to idios, ‘one’s own’” (Vine 113).  The use of the word ‘our’ is significant because Jude is showing these Christians the same salvation he enjoys is the salvation they enjoy.  This would encourage Christians of the day to not follow the ways of those who are leaving ‘the faith.’

I FELT THE NECESSITY—The phrase anangken eschon shows an unexpected event took place, which compelled Jude to change the theme of his letter (Hiebert 217).  This could refer to the Holy Spirit compelling Jude to change the subject at hand, or it could refer to Jude receiving new information concerning his recipients and therefore a new theme was needed.  Either way an external force came upon Jude, which caused him to change the theme of his letter (Coffman 526). 

TO WRITE TO YOU APPEALING—This statement introduces the purpose of the letter to these saints.  Jude both tells them why he is writing and uses a petition verb (parakaleo) to draw attention to his following remarks.  Therefore the whole epistle falls around the purpose Jude is going to lay out in the following words.

The word for write is an aorist infinitive (grapsai), which indicates Jude was “driven to quickly snatch up his pen by the news of the dangerous heresy” (Green 158).        

THAT YOU CONTEND EARNESLTY—This word (epagonizesthai) is only used here in the New Testament (Robertson e-sword).   It is one of the 15 words peculiar to Jude.  The word means, “to contend about a thing, as a combatant” (Vine 125).  It can also be translated “fight” (Arndt and Gingrich 281).  It was used by Plutarch to describe the battles against Hannibal (Thayer 227).  The point is Christians must be willing to ‘engage in battle’ for the faith.  They must be willing to put in extreme efforts in defending the truth, no matter how many foes (Woods 385).  The International Standard Version translates this section, “continue your vigorous defense.”

In a period of time where numerous people within the church were leaving the truth, Jude writes an epistle to tell Christians to be willing to defend the truth that was given to them.  This is the purpose for this short epistle:  to encourage Christians to defend the faith.

 FOR THE FAITH—The faith is the body of doctrine given to all Christians by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (Kelcy 173).  This includes “all the basic New Testament requirements of faith, repentance, confession, and baptism into Christ of all who will be saved initially, and the ethical, moral, and religious obligations of Christians” (Coffman 527).  Some argue ‘the faith’ is only in reference to the fact that salvation is the work of Jesus (Dummelow 1063).  However this is to be rejected because of the nature of the letter of Jude.  Jude is not dealing with those who are denying salvation is the work of Jesus, but rather those who are teaching this grace based salvation allows the Christian to participate in “ungodly” and “uncontrollable lusts” (Jude 4). 

ONCE FOR ALL HANDED DOWN TO THE SAINTS——Jude shows the Christian the nature of the faith they were to defend.  The word hapax (once for all) means “once only, once for all” (Liddell 178).  It is used in Hebrews to show the finality of Christ in atoning for sin (9:28).  It denotes a “perpetually validity” (Vine 445).  Jude wants the Christian to be confident that the body of doctrine they received is the true and only body of doctrine. 

The word for handed down (paradotheisei) is a first aorist passive particle (Robertson e-sword).  This means it was a one-time action with the subject receiving the benefits (Summer 97).  Jude reminds the saints of the fact that in the past they received this body of doctrine, which they must defend.

Jud 1:4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of           our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

       In verse three Jude introduces the purpose of his writing and in verse four he begins to show the reason for the writing.

FOR CERTAIN PERSONS—This is the reason for the concern, which Jude felt, and the imminent reason why he wrote the epistle here is shown. Simply stated:  false teachers had arisen amongst the saints.  Just how he came to have this information is not specified; but presumably he had received either some letter regarding it, or had been visited by one who knew the facts.  It appears that such men were apostate Christians instead of those on the outside (Coffman 529).

HAVE CREPT IN UNNOTICED—Crept in this verse is pareisduein, which means to enter secretly and to slip in stealthily. (Thayer 487).  Pareisduein is a very expressive word.  It was used of the “spacious and seductive words of a cleaver pleader seeping gradually into the minds of a judge and jury; it is used of an outlaw slipping secretly back into the country from which he had been expelled; it is used of the slow and subtle entry of innovations into the life of state, which in the end undermine and break down ancestral laws” (Barclay 179).   It is for this reason that they were thus all the more dangerous because they were unrecognized (Woods 386). This term is unique to Jude which could indicate that the problem of false teachers entering the Lord’s church had not been significant until this time.

THOSE WHO WERE LONG BEFORE HAND MARKED OUT OF THIS CONDEMNATION—The appearance of these men was not unanticipated; it had been predicted/written beforehand that they would appear to plague the church.  This coming was not surprising (Woods 386).  This verse is used by many Calvinists to support the doctrine of reprobation by arbitrary decree.  The word for “marked out” in this passage is never used for an eternal decree but for an upcoming action.  The participle from which the NASU translated “marked out”comes from prographo, a word literally meaning to write before (as in Romans 15:4) (Kelcy 173).  Therefore one is forced to conclude that condemnation has already been placed in many other previously recorded scriptures on people like these, and not that God has preordained some to hell.

ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.--Three charges are brought against them in this verse which are repeated again and again throughout the letter (Davidson 1162).

UNGODLY PERSONS –Asebes- “the godless man” (Ardnt 114). This word is used to describe those who are to be considered wicked, irreverent, and that which is in constant opposition to God.  The term ungodly is a common thread and a key to understanding the epistle, for after he introduces the group “ungodly persons”, he then goes on to give seven examples of those in the past who were ungodly:

1. Those who did not believe in Egypt
2. The angels who left there abode
3. Those in Sodom and Gomorrah
4. The false teachers who revile in contrast with Michael
5. Cain
6. Balaam
7. Korah

Each of these examples will encourage the Christians to contend for the faith realizing that God punishes those who go beyond his system of truth and reward those who abide within it.

LICENTIOUSNESS—Aselgeia denotes “excess” and it means the “absence of restraint”.  It is used to describe “indecency” and “wantonness” in Jude 4.  It is this excess of which the grace of God had been turned by ungodly men (Vines 353).  Jude in this verse is showing what it is like when one goes against the gospel and the atrocity of such an act. Instead of self-restraint they live lascivious lives. It is said that from the very times of the apostles there have been antinomians who have held that what was sin to others might be permitted to the sanctified. They asserted that the Spirit was not defiled by the sins of the body (Johnson 401).

DENY OUR LORD AND MASTER—Throughout the epistle the word Lord is followed by Christ.  The inspired writer is showing in his epistle a contrast between those that follow and submit to the true Lord, and those who refuse to follow Jesus as master. The phraseology of this quote (ton monon despote¯n kai kurion he¯mo¯n) is unique for only one article is used in this phrase (Robertson e-sword).  When one article is used for two separate terms one is forced to conclude that they are the same being. Therefore the Lord and the master are one in the same.  The word for master despotas is used only 10 times in the New Testament, and the majority of the time is used to describe the obedience that slaves have toward their masters (Lawlor 60) and “subjection to their masters authority” (Rengstorf 49).  Jude is pointing out that the false teachers had rejected the authority of the true master and instead sought to corrupt the grace of God. 

This verse is one that shows us the reason for the writing, in verse 3 he tells the Christians to content for the faith and in this verse he tells them why.  The reason for the writing is there are many ungodly people who pervert the truth and they are in the church.